Large Fierce Mammal

Get women involved and everything gets better. Take a close look at that gun. (Kaila Cumings photo)

A hot woman who is also competent in the use of weapons is a mainstay in cinema, and yet when those skills are taken out of the realm of art and inserted into life, it’s often seen as remarkable – even bizarre – by the same people who thought it so wonderful in the movie theatre. A year ago today, in response to an article on the increasing number of women becoming involved in the traditionally male dominated field of hunting, I published an article here called This Makes Me Happy. I suggest you go read it if you haven’t already. In January of this year, I also reported on the Ukrainian Asgarda movement that teaches self reliance and the martial arts of the Cossacks to young women. Fine, fine stuff indeed.

I’m honoured to be married to a Warrior who appreciates a fine blade as much as I do, and brings as much skill and competence to operating a firearm as to everything else she does. It delights us both to see women embracing these interests and the skills that make them relevant. In the past year alone, we’ve watched as women in our sphere of acquaintance made the decision to learn the skills of the Hunt.

Kaila modelling her new hunting bow. (Kaila Cumings photo – click to enbiggen)

Having trained a lot of shooters over the years, I’ve noticed that there is something pure about my female students. They’re never there on the assumption that they are learning a skill that is traditionally theirs by some kind of birthright. With few exceptions, before they’ve walked in my door they have thought the whole thing through on a level that only a very few of my male students could lay claim to. I recall one young woman who attended my junior shooting group quite a few years back. She was 16, gorgeous, and turned the head of every one of the other members – all male – every one of whom had been shooting with the group for at least two years. She, on the other hand, had never picked up a firearm of any kind.

She paid careful attention to everything I told her, and on her first go at the firing line, outshot every one of her fellow students. Every one of her targets was perfect with the exception of one on which she had printed a very slight flyer in the one o’clock position. The boys were mortified, as well they should have been. I was delighted. Her success was not a testament to my teaching. I gave her knowledge she lacked, but what came out of it was all her.

Kaila with James Williams. (Kaila Cumings photo – click to enbiggen)

Women in these fields are making themselves known, and today I’m going to spotlight one of them – Kaila Cumings. Kaila lives in New Hampshire and first came to our attention here at LFM through the entertaining reviews of knives and outdoor gear that she posts to her YouTube channel. She recently took certification for bow and rifle hunting, and documented her progress both there and on her personal facebook page. She also recently attended an edged weapons training class with none other than James Williams, better known to some of you in his capacity as President of Bugei Trading Company, Inc..

We applaud Kaila for her relentless pursuit of bringing a healthy dose of girly goodness to everything she’s doing, and thoroughly enjoy following her progress. Watching her videos you’ll notice pretty quick that she has one of the cutest daughters ever, and it’s interesting to note that she’s received some criticism from people who don’t believe it’s appropriate to have children in the room while mom is talking knives. Those people are full of shit.

I’ll more or less pause now to let Kaila speak for herself with a representative sampling of her video commentary.

Click here to see her review of the CRKT Minimalist Bowie designed by Alan Folts, a knife carried and used daily by both Mrs. LFM and me.

That’s what I’m talking about. (Kaila Cumings photo)

And lastly, a delightfully salty rant!